Activist Sonam Wangchuk has revealed that he softened his demand for Union training minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation throughout negotiations with the federal government, making safety from authorized harassment of protesting college students his “non-negotiable” situation for ending his starvation strike.
Wangchuk, chatting with Prakhar Gupta on the PGX podcast, stated that by July 22 he not thought of Pradhan’s resignation his high precedence as he turned more and more involved about the potential of violence spreading to different cities.
“By 22 I did not see resignation as the primary precedence,” Sonam Wangchuk stated, including that he was additionally contemplating the harm the continued demand for resignation was inflicting.
He stated he started to consider that Pradhan’s resignation might occur later and that different individuals had been additionally demanding it.
“So I began considering that this resignation will most likely occur as a result of they need to have carried out a lot earlier,” Wangchuk stated. “Perhaps they did not have resignation in thoughts. If it does not occur, it would occur in two-four days, and there are others additionally demanding it.”
‘Non-negotiable’ was no authorized harassment
Wangchuk stated his focus in the course of the negotiations shifted to making sure that college students who had participated within the protest wouldn’t face legal circumstances or different types of authorized harassment.
“However my predominant level was that there ought to be no authorized harassment,” he stated. “So I softened the resignation demand a bit and stated — you’ll be able to think about accountability by means of resignation, however the non-negotiable is that you’ll not do authorized harassment.”
The demand assumed higher significance for Wangchuk due to his expertise following the September 2025 violence in Ladakh. He stated greater than 80 circumstances had been nonetheless pending a 12 months later and that individuals who had been making an attempt to forestall violence had themselves been jailed.
Wangchuk stated he feared an identical scenario might develop across the Delhi protest.
Wangchuk insisted on written assurance
In line with Wangchuk, authorities interlocutors initially advised him that they may present solely a verbal assurance that protesters wouldn’t face authorized harassment.
He rejected that proposal.
“I stated, ‘If it occurs, it is going to be written. Later, there isn’t a honour in something,’” Wangchuk recalled. “I need a written signature that no FIR, no authorized harassment shall be on any college students who’re exercising their elementary proper.”
Additionally learn: Sonam Wangchuk says CJP leaders wanted to end protest after July 20 crackdown
He stated he was ultimately knowledgeable round 11.30pm on July 23 that the federal government was keen to supply the peace of mind in writing.
The negotiations adopted conferences with Union ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh, who Wangchuk stated first met him on the hospital on the night time of July 21 and requested him to finish his starvation strike.
At that stage, Wangchuk stated his calls for included accountability by means of resignation, compensation and a parliamentary dialogue geared toward discovering long-term options. He later added the demand that peaceable protesters not face FIRs or harassment.
Why Wangchuk feared persevering with the protest
Wangchuk stated his determination to prioritise the legal-protection demand was additionally influenced by the violence he believed might erupt if the agitation continued.
He recalled seeing studies of a “violent buildup” in Connaught Place on the night time of July 23, together with preparations round metro stations and the deployment of police and paramilitary forces.
“If two-three lakh individuals in Ladakh had so many individuals killed, what might occur in Delhi?” Wangchuk stated, including that if the unrest unfold to Mumbai, Lucknow and different cities, it might turn out to be a “civil battle scenario”.
He stated he due to this fact needed to make an enchantment that the starvation strike and the confrontation ought to finish as soon as satisfactory assurances had been secured.
CJP continued to hunt Pradhan’s resignation
Wangchuk’s determination to melt the resignation demand throughout negotiations didn’t finish the problem for the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP).
After Wangchuk’s starvation strike was damaged, CJP leaders determined to proceed the protest and demand Pradhan’s resignation.
Wangchuk stated he supported that call, arguing that resignation represented accountability for what had occurred in the course of the protest, even when a change of minister didn’t essentially result in main enhancements in training.
“An accountability and a few responsiveness” had been achieved, he stated, however he didn’t see a serious transformation within the training system following Pradhan’s departure.
